Wednesday, December 25, 2013

The Increasing Magic of Hong Kong Disneyland

Sleeping Beauty Castle, the iconic structure of Disneyland, during a fireworks display after the Flights of Fantasy parade.

As
the silhouette of Mickey Mouse became clearer with the sun rising and the
spurts of water glinted in its rays, elation also rose. Then one by one, other
Disney characters such as Donald Duck, Goofy, Minnie Mouse and Pluto appeared
around the fountain at the entrance of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. Yes, there
was a part that decried the Disneyfication—that largely
mercantile process of sanitization to make things safer, more pleasant—but
that was set aside and relegated as just a vestige of the cynical self. Then
there was this part that was delighted. I was a newcomer to this world, but at
the same time I felt like I was returning, returning to that place in childhood
that largely saw the world as full of wonders.

Although,
Disney promotes a formula of wholesomeness that can be restrictive and out of
touch of reality, it is part of almost everybody’s childhood and has a
special place in many hearts, a place of comfort, magic and fun. The worlds the
Disney films create vanish as the movie ends, but they stay in the hearts.
These worlds are made tangible in its theme parks in several parts of the
world, enabling people to enter the beloved stories and experience new
things.

The first Disneyland opened in Anaheim,
California, in July 17, 1955, followed by the ones in Florida; Paris, France;
and Tokyo, Japan. For many Filipinos, these are too far away, the magical
kingdoms that they are. But with the opening of a Disneyland in Hong Kong in
September 2005, just about two hours of plane ride from the Philippines, the
kind of magic they offer is reachable.

Located on Penny’s
Bay on Lantau Island, the 27.5-hectare Hong Kong Disneyland offers many
attractions to delight the senses such as rides, shows, parades, food outlets,
dining and meeting the characters, deftly created for people to have
experiences uniquely Disney. Aside from the park, which has several areas with
different themes, the complex has two themed hotels: Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel
and Disney’s Hollywood Hotel.

Hong
Kong Disneyland “features some of the best attractions
and entertainment from other Disney parks around the world. (It) is designed
for guests to leave their troubles behind and enter a world of yesterday,
tomorrow, adventure and fantasy,” the bulletin in the
hotel room states.

The
bulletin further says: “Hong Kong Disneyland features original
Disney attractions with elements designed especially for Asian audiences. This
is reflected in our Broadway-style shows, signature attractions, restaurants,
parades and fireworks. We use creativity and technology to tell our classic
stories.”

So
far, Hong Kong Disneyland has received more than 38 million visitors from
around the world. Yes, there are people from different countries but here it
seems we are all citizens of this first-rate republic. And at the same time, we
are all children. We met two cheery Japanese women who attracted us because
they were dressed all over in Disney design clothes with bags encrusted with
Disney plush toys. They have gone to many Disneyland parks, they said, and we
thought they were a kind of Disney groupie. But we saw a lot of little girls
dressed as Disney princesses. Actually there is special salon where girls can
have a makeover as a Disney princess.

Painted
all over in pink, the dainty Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is at the Hong Kong
Disneyland Hotel and features a showroom of Disney princess costumes, fitting
rooms and rows of vanity dressers for makeup.

“We hereby invite you to step into the
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, where your Fairy Godmother-in-Training will magically
transform you into the princess of your dreams though the magic of shimmering
makeup, Disney Princess costume and dazzling accessories. It is our sincere
hope that all of the dreams that you wish will come true here at the Bibbidi
Bobbidi Boutique,” its flyer in pink says.

For
HK$1,320, the Castle Package includes “hairstyling with
crown, Princess costume, Princes sash, shimmering makeup, fingernail polishing
and eight by 10 inch photo with premium photo folder.”
Aside from six looks, the boutique is adding the Minnie Mouse look.
Unfortunately, there is no Ariel, the Little Mermaid.

By
the Cinderella Stairway of the hotel, a live Disney princess, Snow White,
greeted us and obliged for photo-taking sessions. Characters can pop up like
that. During breakfast at the restaurant here, Goofy, Pluto and Daisy Duck went
around the tables. At Chef Mickey, the restaurant of the art-deco Disney’s
Hollywood Hotel, one can take pictures with Mickey Mouse in a chef costume. At
Disneyland, there are several stations where people can queue up to have their
pictures taken with the characters. The most popular is, of course, Mickey
Mouse and Minnie Mouse at a gazebo at Main Street, USA. The waiting in line can
take up hours. Across the street, you can find Chip and Dale. The teddy bear
Duffy, a new character that originated from Japan, is just around the corner.
Buzz Lightyear is at Tomorrowland. There were no Tarzan and Hercules,
unfortunately.

Those
who can’t be princesses or any other Disney
character can buy T-shirts, and they have a wide variety of designs. The park
is riddled with stores and the stores offer a wide variety of products from key
chains to plates. The biggest is Emporium, which is aptly at Main Street, USA.
This is the first themed area to greet visitors, a recreation of a quaint
American small town. They have old-style mailboxes that are actually trash
bins. At one end of the main street is the iconic Snow White Castle, the center
of the park and an entrance to Fantasyland, the world of the Disney princesses.

The
Cinderella Carousel is at the center of Fantasyland, but I was fascinated by
the Mad Hatter Tea Cups, a ride of giant spinning cups that had attracted me as
a child. Here, we watched Mickey’s PhilharMagic, a Fantasia-inspired
4D movie which stars Donald Duck. In addition to 3D images onscreen, audience
can feel real wind blasts and sprinkles of water, as well as smell the
fragrance of food together with images of a banquet.

On
the other hand, “The Golden Mickeys”
is a live show that follows the awards show format with live performances
inspired by Disney films. Tarzan is
included and one can see a live Tarzan dancing onstage in loincloth. Many
performers are Filipinos. In fact, the musical director of the park is
Filipino, Rony Fortich.

The customized welcome for us by the Main Street.

Adjacent
to Fantasyland is Tomorrowland, the space themed area where Space Mountain is
the star attraction. Space Mountain, one of the top five favorite rides of
Filipino visitors, is an indoor rollercoaster ride that simulates shuttling
through outer space. It is dark with only stars and other heavenly bodies serving
as lights, adding to the thrill of the whole speedy ride.

On
the other hand, Adventureland has one main feature, the artificial river where
guests can go on an adventurous cruise pass wild animals such as
hippopotamuses, elephants and crocodiles and scenes of men being chased by
savage tribesmen and exploding volcanoes. This is perhaps the closest to the
real thing among the rides and the scariest. A kid cried after our ride.

To
these, Hong Kong Disneyland has added three new areas in recent years at the
southern portion of the park, representing a 25 percent growth—Toy
Story Land, Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point.

Toy Story Land

Opened
on November 18, 2011, Toy Story Land is inspired by the popular and acclaimed Toy Story movies and lets us into the
world of Andy’s backyard where things are oversized
and larger-than-life. You are surrounded by giant toys. Visitors are greeted by
a giant six-meter statue of Woody, who you will meet at the Barrel of Fun along
with the cowgirl Jessie.

In
this area, you will bump into Sarge and his Toy Soldiers, men painted all over
in green, who proceed to the Toy Soldier Boot Camp, where can guests are
enjoined to participate in their drills as they look for new recruits. Cubot is
also going around, a spinning and speaking block toy with multiple faces and
voices, which visitors can play with.

There
are three rides in this area. The 51-seater Slinky Dog Spin is like the
caterpillar in the shape of Slinky, running around to catch his own tail. The
Toy Soldier Parachute Drop has six “parachutes”
with six seats each. Visitors are taken 25 meters above the ground, affording
them a commanding view of Toy Story Land, and then are suddenly dropped. But
the RC Racer is the most exhilarating of the rides here, in which guests ride
on a giant toy race car that goes back and forth on a U-shaped track so fast
and going to as much as 27 meters high an adrenaline rush is inevitable.

A
giant statue of the endearing dinosaur Rex bids visitors farewell at the exit.

The Grizzly Gulch

The
one-of-the-kind Grizzly Gulch was opened in July 2012, a charming recreation of
a mining town in the mountain, complete with a geyser; an assay office, where
one finds the biggest gold nugget said to have found here, the Lucky Nugget;
the Grizzly Gulch Old Jail with graffiti, messages and wanted posters from
former prisoners, where guests can make personalized wanted posters with photos
of themselves; and the snack joint Lucky Nugget Saloon at the Gold Dust Hotel.
The Grizzly Gulch Welcome Wagon Show is regularly mounted for visitors.

Stories
are, of course, the soul of places, and Disneyland knows this by heart. Thus,
the Grizzly Gulch has a “history.” The fact sheet
tells: “On the afternoon of August 8, 1888, a
family of grizzly bears was scratching their backs against a boulder on Big
Grizzly Mountain. A villager passing by shortly after spotted something
gleaming in the rock. All that scratching had worn down the surface and
revealed a bright vein of gold!

“So, on this day, the first discovery of
gold in Big Grizzly Mountain was made. And from that moment forward,
ever-increasing numbers of people came to Big Grizzly Gulch to seek their
livelihoods in gold mining, sparking a gold rush. The Big Grizzly Mountain
Mining Co. was established, bringing life and prosperity to the surrounding
area and turning it into the bustling town of Grizzly Gulch we know today.”

The
Grizzly Gulch has one ride, the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, a
multidirectional, terrain-style coaster running throughout the mining town. As
the coaster forwards, one sees a grizzly bear accidentally triggering dynamite
and launching the coaster rapidly. Another bear flips a track switch that leads
the coaster to Shaft No. 4. At one-third of the ride, the mine cars reach the
peak of Big Grizzly Mountain and then suddenly plummet backwards.

Mystic Point

The
original Mystic Point is the newest feature of Hong Kong Disneyland, opening in
May 2013. It features the most immersive and most sophisticated ride, and tells
a fascinating story with an eccentric explorer and adventurer named Lord Henry
and his monkey companion Albert as main characters.

The
guidebook narrates: “Set in 1908 and deep within miles of
uncharted tropical jungle stands an estate known as Mystic Point, home of the
renowned adventurer and explorer Lord Henry Mystic. Lord Henry has built a
private museum to display his entire collection of paintings, statues, weaponry
and musical instruments gathered from around the world. As the founder of
Society of Explorers and Adventurers, he has invited VIP guests to visit Mystic
Manor to view his collection

“Lord Henry’s
latest acquisition is an ornate music box covered in intricate carvings of
monkeys, which is of particular interest to Henry’s trusted travel
companion, a mischievous monkey named Albert. It is said that box possesses the
power to bring inanimate objects to life through the touch of its enchanted
Music Dust.”

The
curious Albert opens the box, releasing Music Dust, said to be the “third
character” in the story, and the Mystic Manor
ride shows us what Music Dust can do as well as Lord Henry’s
astonishing collection of antiquities and even some oddities.

Mystic
Manor is built in the Victorian style but has design elements from different
cultures around the world such as the domed towers reminiscent of Moscow and
St. Petersburg; and Moorish details.

Upon
entering Mystic Manor, one is led to the Presentation Room where a portrait of
Lord Henry introduces the attraction and his latest acquisition, the Music Box.
The one rides the Mystic Magneto-Electric Carriage, which carries guests from
one room to another. The five-minute ride uses the first trackless system with
radio-frequency identification. The carriage moves as if magically.
Additionally, state-of-the-art 4K HD cinema projectors are used to create 40
types of special visual effects. The ride is accompanied by a soundtrack
composed by Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman as Music Dust weaves its way
through the rooms, bring the objects to life. Among the wondrous things to witness
at Mystic Manor are exotic musical instruments coming to life; a mosaic of a
young woman transforming into the Greek mythical character Medusa; a giant,
carnivorous plant at the Solarium; the Slavic god of winter blowing an icy
breath to transform the landscape to winter; bugs flying out between the
wrappings of a mummy; and Chinese paintings on the walls flapping and swaying
in the wind.

Outside
the Mystic Manor is the Garden of Wonders, where one finds the Lamassu Bas
Relief, which is whole when viewed at one point and disjointed at another.
Other optical illusions can also be found here.

Mystic
Manor also has the Explorer’s Club Restaurant
with five themed dining areas—Egypt, Russia,
Morocco, India and China—and offering 16 popular dishes from
Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia such as the Korean ginseng chicken
soup, the Hainanese chicken rice, the nasi
goreng, and the baked salmon bento box. Try the Blueberry Myst drink with a
glowing “ice cube.” Mystic Point always
fascinates.

The Mystic Manor

The shadow puppet presentation

The shadow puppet troupe

The Blueberry Myst drink

The Hainanese chicken rice set

The Garden of Wonders

Dining Disney

I
never thought you could find good food in a theme park, but Hong Kong
Disneyland surprisingly offers a delectable selection aside from the usual fare
of popcorn, cotton candy and corn on the cob. What more, there are Mickey icons
on the food! If you’re the one who delights in searching
for hidden Mickeys, which are all over the place from manhole covers to benches
to grill works, then eating will be a double delight.

We
had to try the Mickey-shaped waffles at the Main Street Market. The outdoor café
is delightfully visited by numerous Eurasian tree sparrows, most of them fat
from food scraps thrown by diners. Do not feed the birds, warns the park, but
one cannot help it. The waffles come with whipped cream placed on both Mickey’s
ears and topped with candy sprinkles. Beside Main Street Market is the Market
House Bakery, operated by Maxim’s, that offers
pastries including Mickey shaped tiramisu.

Also
on Main Street, USA is Main Street Corner Café, which offers
Western comfort food with international twist, and I had seafood laksa, which
was filling and so delicious. The café has the Coca-Cola
themed restaurant, the first in Hong Kong, which serves Coke-infused dishes.

We
were treated to a special dinner at the Chinese restaurant of the Hong Kong
Disneyland Hotel, the Crystal Lotus, where the chefs created a special menu for
us incorporating the Mickey icon and other Disney characters. The menu included
roasted deboned short rib and sweetened barbeque paste in steamed piggy mask
buns; stuffed whole dried scallops in Mickey winter melon chicken soup;
wok-fried shrimps and Disney root vegetables; wok-fried tenderloin of beef
cubes, mushrooms and bell peppers; wok-fried vegetables and mock chicken in
taro basket; fried rice with Tasmanian crab meat, conpoy and egg white; and
double boiled whole Chinese pear topped with aged mandarin peel accompanied by
fresh fruit.

Waffles at Main Street, U.S.A.

The Eurasian tree sparrows at the cafe

The appetizer of scallops at the Coca-Cola Cafe.

Christmas Season, Disneyland style

Hong
Kong Disneyland is doubly delightful this season as it puts on Disney’s
Sparkling Christmas from November 14, 2013, to January 5, 2014.

Main
Street, USA becomes Christmas Town as storefronts are dressed with festive
garlands, lights and ornaments, but the highlight is the giant Christmas tree
with 90,000 programmable LED lights at Town Square.

Every
evening when it is lit, carollers sing favorite Christmas tunes then Goofy,
Mickey and Minnie appear on a giant sleigh with dancers holding luminous giant
snowflakes marching down Main Street, USA. When the Christmas tree is lit to a
lively musical score, fake snow falls, coming from the roof tops.

This
is in addition to the regular Flights of Fantasy Parade around Snow White
Castle capped by a fireworks display.

As
part of the Christmas activities, the three new themed areas—Toy
Story Land, Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point—present new puppet
shows collectively called Puppets in the Park. At Toy Story Land, “Let’s
Tell a Toy Story” tell the stories of Woody, Jessie or
Buzz Lightyear. “The Winter Wish”
is a hand puppet show at Grizzly Gulch that tells the loving story of the bears
from Big Grizzly Mountain. “Adventures with Lord
Henry” is a shadow puppet show at Mystic
Point operated by a Southeast Asian puppetry troupe and tells the adventures of
Lord Henry and Albert at the Mediterranean city of Pisa, Egypt and the Great
Wall of China, where they meet fascinating people and gather a collection of
new artifacts.

Shopping
for Christmas gifts is not a problem as Hong Kong Disneyland offers over 110
Christmas collectibles from confectionery to plush toys and warm winter wear to
personalized Disney Christmas ornaments.

Buffets
or set meals are offered at the park, Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s
Hollywood Hotel for Christmas dining. The Coca-Cola Café,
in particular, offers interesting Coke-infused dishes for Christmas, which
include seared scallops with mango salad and Coca-Cola molecules as appetizer;
braised beef cheek with Coca-Cola barbecue sauce on mashed potatoes and roasted
root vegetables and poached sole and salmon fillet in Coca-Cola veloute
vegetable fettucine as main course choices; and Coca-Cola crème
brulee with fresh berries for dessert.

Christmas
ambiance extends to the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, where guests who reserve a
Kingdom Club Suite enjoy festive holiday room decorations. For other room
bookings, guests can request the same decorative room offer for an additional
HK$600.

As
you retire for the night here, it seems you will not be visited by nightmares
except The Nightmare Before Christmas.
This, after all, is said to be “the happiest place on
earth.”

Disneyland's Hollywood Hotel

The Jungle Cruise at Adventureland.

The Flights of Fantasy parade

The Golden Mickeys

For more information,
visit or click on to www.hongkongdisneyland.com.

Followers

Google+ Followers

Total Page Views

Translate

Subscribe To

Search This Blog

About Me

ROEL HOANG MANIPON
How do I begin? There's not much but then there's so much. But it must begin somewhere, so here it goes: I will begin with something "mundane" (but really not mundane; they're all cosmic to me. These are what I do, and thus a big part of what I am: a journalist, poet, fictionist, essayist, cultural researcher, travel writer, publication designer, sometime painter, amateur photographer, translator, strip dancer, masseur, model and a natural cook. Whoa! That sounds a lot. But really, not doing all at the same time, may two or three at the same time, but all them in me. And there are other things that I want to do or be, like being an astronaut, archaeologist, filmmaker, etc. I think one lifetime is not enough for me. Often I don't refer to them as simply jobs but passions. Oh, yeah, I'm forever a student too. Forever a boy.